Join us!
Partners
Female Internet Hero: Audio Interview with Caterina Fake of Hunch and Flickr
As part of our Female Internet Heroes series, and in conjunction with NCWIT (the National Center for Women & Information Technology), The NextWomen are publishing audio interviews highlighting a diverse group of women innovators from small companies, larger corporations, and non-profits, whose ideas and products are changing the way we think, work, play, and communicate. Listen as these women discuss how they first became involved with tech, why they chose to be entrepreneurs and what advice they would give to young people interested in IT or entrepreneurship.
Caterina Fake, Co-Founder of Hunch and Flickr and TNW Female Internet Hero
 |
Listen to the NCWIT Entrepreneurial Interview with Caterina Fake. |
Caterina Fake
Caterina Fake is a NextWomen Female Internet Hero and co-founder of Flickr, the popular photo-sharing site that helped transform the web into the participatory environment it is today. Flickr was launched early 2004, but Caterina’s love affair with the net and web development started as early as 1994 when she worked as an art director at Salon.com and on the development of online communities, social networks and personal publishing.
Born in Pittsburgh, PA, Fake graduated from Vassar College in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. In 2001 she cofounded Ludicorp which in 2004 launched Flickr, later acquired by Yahoo! in 2005. While there, she worked on MyWeb and Yahoo! Answers and ran Yahoo’s Technology Development group, known for its Hack Yahoo! program, designed to stimulate innovation and creativity, and Brickhouse, a rapid development environment for new products.
In March 2009 her new company, Hunch.com which helps people make decisions and Read more
The Ladies go Gaga for Music Entrepreneurs
Here The NextWomen Events Editor, Misae Richwoods, waxes lyrical about Music4point5.
‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾
Misae Richwoods (flickr cc: pevijo)
When it comes to the old sing-a-long, two girls who’ve been backing many an act are Petra Johansson and Rassami Hok Ljungberg, whose duo performances are made under the stage name of 2 Pears. Better known for their encore performances staging Tech Crunch Europe’s regular events, 2 Pears noticed that tech was starting to rock the music industry and put out a ballad called Music 4.5 to serenade the two together. Would it be an A-ha moment, INXS of expectations or Simply Red?
Panels
Held at Central London’s Cavendish Conference Centre near Harley Street, the line up was equally plush. An opening panel was made by The Guardian’s Jemima Kiss interviewing the head of The Performing Rights Society, Fergal Sharkey. Whilst half expecting him to break into a medley of ‘a good right these days is heart to find’, successive panels focussed on key topic areas and played a percussive chorus of music being a strong industry.
“Let’s get this clear,”
said Jeremy Silver of the FAC,
“all this talk of music being an industry in crisis is media hype. Look at the facts. Live music is massively on the up. Merchandising is on the up. The only area that technology has affected is recorded music and that’s the area that technology created in the first place.”
This was backed up by Chris Corey of the PRS
“From £1.3bn to £1.4bn last year in recorded, music is a growing industry and a great industry to be in”.
“The issue,” continued Jeremy, “is simply of an industry trying to modernise itself. And like the Post Office, it’s messy!” Read more
The NextWomen Invite Female Entrepreneurs to Dine with Michelle Dewberry and Chiconomise
Continuing with their ever popular series of Kitchen Dinners, The NextWomen are excited to announce their newest feast – Dine with Chiconmise on Wednesday March 24th, 2010 in London. Join Michelle Dewberry in The NextWomen’s very own kitchen for an intimate dinner and learn more about the ‘act of living stylishly for less’ from the founding Chiconomist herself. Enjoy peer-to-peer networking with successful online female entrepreneurs, a three course meal, speed mentoring and a fascinating keynote.
BOOK NOW
For more details visit our kitchen dinner and upcoming events pages and watch the video from our hugely successful Big Kitchen Dinner and photos.
MICHELLE DEWBERRY
__________________________________________________________________________
Head Hunted by a Major Internet Service Provider
After leaving school in Hull aged 16 with no qualifications, Michelle Dewberry started her career with a modern apprenticeship in business. Alongside this, she studied IT in her spare time and quickly moved up the corporate ladder. Aged just 22, Michelle was head-hunted by a major Internet Service Provider to manage one of their biggest international projects. Following the successful delivery of this project, Dewberry established herself as a self employed consultant, managing multi-million pound projects spanning across Europe and Asia. She was just 23 years old.
Winner of The Apprentice
Aged 24, Michelle seized the opportunity to apply for the second series of BBC’s The Apprentice and beat over 15,000 people to become the first female and youngest winner of the show.
Founder of Michelle Dewberry ltd and Chiconomise Read more
If Only We Could Bottle The Essence of These (Entrepreneurial) Women
This is a guest post by Lou Hamilton, owner of Createlab, where she makes feature films and documentaries about inspiring people. She is also organizer of a women in business networking group in London for which she created a short film series Women Talking Business.
There are so many inspiring women in business who are balancing their home, family and work lives and who are a shining light to other aspiring people. I recently want to the We Mean Business conference run by Business Link in London. The aim was for women to come together, meet, support, encourage, befriend and connect with each other. There were several keynote speakers whose passion, determination and courage were infectious, such Steph Cutler, Penny Power of E-Cademy and Shaa Wasmund of Smarta.
If life deals you lemons, what do you do? Make Lemonade!
One of them was Steph Cutler who overcame sudden blindness but defied “the bastards who wouldn’t employ me” to build a successful business helping others with disabilities. She encouraged us to see obstacles as opportunities not setbacks. In fact she says there were times when she found her blindness was to her advantage, for instance when she started public speaking she couldn’t really see the audience so it made her feel braver and now she loves it. She forced herself live with her disability in a way that meant living her life to the fullest. As she jokes- if life deals you lemons, what do you do? Make Lemonade! It has not been an easy journey but it has been a rewarding one.
Our personalities are our greatest asset, not what we are selling.
Penny Power who runs the social media site Ecademy spent 12 years building up her business, losing her family house along the way as she and her husband struggled to make ends meet. But she was determined to be a full-time mum (and a great one at that) at the same time as creating a successful business around the then entirely untried idea of globally connecting with people online. She stuck it through the tough times, held on to her dream, balanced her steps along the tightrope and finally it all came together.
She encourages us to make an assumption of trust of people- to make friends with others, to connect, to engage, to share ideas and contacts, to give, to listen, to offer yourself to the world community, to be there for others, to offer help, to ask for help. Read more
Startup Interview: Esra Young of The Ragtrader, The Freelance Site for Fashion Designers
Fashion recruitment agenices, whilst well established, often charge dearly for their services. Co-founded by Esra Young, The Ragtrader is an online service for freelancers in the fashion industry which enable designers from anywhere in the world to work on projects half-way across the Globe. Here, Esra talks to The NextWomen about recognising a niche in the market, their heavy reliance on social media and the slow move online by players within the industry.
________________________________________________________________________
From Freelance Fashion Designer to Female Entrepreneur
I graduated from Central Saint Martins with a degree in womenswear fashion design in 1999 and worked as a freelance designer for numerous UK companies. Freelancing is tough at the best of times as it is not consistent, but I found it increasingly difficult to fit work around my two young children & so came up with the idea of The Ragtrader as an answer to the problem.
What is The Ragtrader? When did you launch and what are your objectives for the next three years?
The Ragtrader is an online service which enables international fashion companies to use freelance fashion and graphic designers based anywhere in the world. We launched in December 08 & are in the process of recruiting agents around the world in order to grow globally. China is proving to be one of our strongest markets. Our aim is to become the “go-to” place for companies looking for freelance fashion or graphic designers.
Who makes up The Ragtrader team and what do you all bring to the table?
The team compromises of me and my husband Steven who has also worked in the fashion industry for over 10 years. We have a few interns, a technical team that manage the site and business advisors and investors.
What is your business model and how do you differ from your competitors?
We are unique in the fashion industry. Read more
Female Internet Hero: Audio Interview with Dina Kaplan of Blip.tv
As part of our Female Internet Heroes series, and in conjunction with NCWIT (the National Center for Women & Information Technology), The NextWomen will be publishing audio interviews highlighting a diverse group of women innovators from small companies, larger corporations, and non-profits, whose ideas and products are changing the way we think, work, play, and communicate. Listen as these women discuss how they first became involved with tech, why they chose to be entrepreneurs and what advice they would give to young people interested in IT or entrepreneurship.
Dina Kaplan, Co-Founder of Blip.tv
|
Listen to the NCWIT Entrepreneurial Interview with Dina Kaplan. |
Dina Kaplan
Dina Kaplan is the co-founder of blip.tv, overseeing business operations for the company, including media partnerships, advertising and sponsorship deals, distribution deals, PR, marketing and investor relations.
Blip.tv is the double Webby-award winning video sharing site focused on shows. It enables independent producers to create their own TV shows for the Internet, from scripted sitcoms and dramas, to journalists covering the war in Baghdad. In writing about online video sites, Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal recently wrote:
“My favorite is blip.tv.”
In 2008 Business 2.0 named blip.tv in a cover story as one of “25 start-ups to watch.”
Before blip.tv Read more
The NextWomen Announce their 2010 Pitching Day
Join female entrepreneurs, managers and consultants of the Web at The NextWomen 2010 Pitching Day, Tuesday 16th March 2010, in group Workshops and 1:1 Clinics to learn the art & science of pitching skills for convincing investors, customers and partners to do business with you.
 cc: flickr flyfshrmn98 |
The event, which consists of two morning workshops run in tandem, followed by an afternoon 1:1 business clinic in which entrepreneurs can tackle any business dilemma – large or small – with a selection of industry experts, allows entrepreneurs to optimise their pitching skills with a day designed to their own specific needs.
BOOK NOW
Tickets start from £75 for early bird – workshop only – and go up to £150 for full day tickets (morning Workshop + afternoon 1:1 Clinic).
Entrepreneurs can pick from one of two workshops:
______________________________________________________________________________________
Workshop Option 1 – When, Where and How to Pitch to Investors
______________________________________________________________________________________
How to find the Fastest Route to Funding
Learn how to:
- Choose the right financing approach for your business
- Pitch to different types of investors
- Make sure potential investors take note of your business plan
- Retain a majority stake of your business
For more information visit The NextWomen 2010 Pitching Day page
______________________________________________________________________________________
Workshop Option 2 – The Art & Science of Pitching to Customers and Partners
______________________________________________________________________________________
What your Body is Saying Behind your Back
Learn:
- The power to influence, present and communicate your value proposition
- How we influence and communicate our business ideas to other people
- How to influence people more effectively by developing and extending your range of non-verbal skills
- How to read and adapt your style to achieve the greatest impact.
- The art & science of non verbal communication
For more information visit The NextWomen 2010 Pitching Day page
______________________________________________________________________________________
1:1 Business Clinic
______________________________________________________________________________________
Building on knowledge gained in the previous workshops, entrepreneurs will get in-depth 1:1 help and support on issues of their choice, tailored exactly to their needs through the use of exercises and advice from an expert of their choice.
For more information on the experts in attendance, possible topics for help and how it works, visit The NextWomen 2010 Pitching Day page.
______________________________________________________________________________________
DETAILS
______________________________________________________________________________________
| Date: | Tuesday 16th March 2010 |
| Location: | Sun Microsystems, Regis House, 45 King William Street, London, EC4R 9AN |
| Workshops: | £75 Early bird – Before March 1st (Includes drinks and refreshments) |
| £100 Full price – After March 1st (Includes drinks and refreshments) | |
| Full Day: | £150 (Includes workshop, 1:1 time with 2 experts, lunch, two snacks and drinks) |
Interview: Marion Carrette, Co-Founder and CMO of Zilok
Businesses that thrive in times when people want to watch their pennies are clearly evident during a recession. People flock to rental sites such as Girl Meets Dress, handbagsfromheaven and LOVEFiLM as they look for ways to continue living life in a way they enjoy, but with a more affordable pricetag. With Zilok, rather than buying a power drill to put up your shelf, or a fondue set for your ski-inspired birthday party, individuals and professionals can rent them. Here, Co-founder and CMO of Zilok, Marion Carrette, talks to guest writer – Pamela Poole, founder of Francophilia – about her love affair with the web, the strike of good luck she had in finding her business partner and how she wishes she had founded Leboncoin.fr – the French Craigslist.
____________________________________________________________________________
Tell us about yourself – your background and education
I went to ESSEC (business school) and graduated in 1996. Since leaving, I’ve always worked on the Web. I initially spent three years at a web agency before creating my own web content agency – ECRITO – which I sold to a PR firm so I could launch ZILOK.
What is Zilok? When did you launch and what is your mission?
Zilok is the number one site where people can rent and offer for rent all kinds of objects. It’s a kind of eBay, but instead of buying things, people can rent items from each other or from a company.
The site was launched in late 2007 with the goal to promote renting as a new way of consuming and one that is more sustainable.
How did you choose your partners? Looking back, would you have done it differently?
It was purely by chance. We actually had our own separate projects going on at the same time, and met when an investor let something slip. We hit it off right away, we’re very complementary, and our projects were also at about the same stage, so we decided to join forces rather than fighting for the same market. And it was the right move. I would do it exactly the same way if I had to do it over again.
What were your start-up costs, and how did you fund them? How would you rate crowd funding in France? Did it work for you? Read more
Bespoke Shoe Design Site, Upper Street, to Launch March 2010
Having the option and ability to design your own little piece of fashion is becoming ever more popular. Nike began the craze with their Nike ID range, enabling sport lovers to personalise their trainers. More recently, companies are taking the concept online, and it seems the competition is building.
Due to launch March 1st 2010, Upper Street is:
‘The made-to-order footwear label that lets you create your ultimate pair of designer shoes. Choose the style, all the detailing and the finish, then sit back while our craftsmen create your one-of-a-kind pair, delivered right to your door. Upperstreet.com – the perfect way to unleash your creative streak or simply create the shoes you’ve always searched for.’
Co-founded by sisters Julia and Katy Grinham, the site has the potential to be very slick and already has a sneak preview of the immense options to come on its facebook page. With sizes ranging from a UK 2 – 10 (I know a lot of women that will be excited by such broad offerings), there is reported to be hundreds of materials, colours and embellishments – including Swarovski gems – that can only signal shoe heaven for those of us who just cannot resist. With seven basic style choices – including courts, sandals, gladiator heels and round toe platforms – users can design a shoe for any occasion, even for their wedding day.
Bridal Shoes (all pictures from upperstreet Facebook page)
The site already gives a written teaser for what is to come. ‘The Rise of The Killer Heel’ talks about ‘delicate pieces’ and ‘foot confection’ which only strengthens the notion that women and shoes are like children in a sweet shop. It goes beyond providing a platform for simply designing shoes, however, presenting fashion trends and celebrity inspiration: Read more
Young Entrepreneurs and Investors Meet Through FIG
______________________________________________________________________
Budding Business Bransons Meet the Investors
FIG is the nickname of Find Invest Grow, a new network aimed at connecting budding business Bransons with investors, and they were there in force. Angel Investor Chrissie Ashley, who founded a pharmaceutical focused PR agency many years ago, explained she had become a FIGurehead because the returns she was getting by keeping her wealth in the bank were so negligible she couldn’t get anything near the returns she could from investing in start-ups. FIG enabled her to connect with young entrepreneurs whom she could invest in directly, helping them with mentoring and commercial know how. Chrissie and her business partner had both become involved with MyVacc, one of the start ups that would present later in the evening.
Like thenextwomen’s pitchpreneur events, tonight was a chance for investors to meet FIG hopefuls.
‘Since launching 6 months ago we’ve had over 170 applications’ explained Marco Geninazza, one of FIG’s charming team. ‘Of those, we refuse a lot as our application system vets out those that aren’t yet funding ready. From the remainder, we put 22 into workshops to get them geared up, and the best 9 are pitching here tonight’.
Thenextwomen’s pitchpreneur events are focused specifically on that highest of growth of areas – tech. FIG also reflects the modern world in that it is predominantly tech that captures people’s ideas for innovation. However, they don’t rule out other areas and it was nice to see exercise equipment and beauty supplies amongst the dotcoms and mobile apps pitching.
Understanding the Legal Aspects
Natasha Mwantembe, who pitched her New Strands hair extensions concept told me afterwards:
“It’s been so good being part of this network as they’ve helped me out with lots of things that I simply wouldn’t have known about like the legal side of things.”
A New Angle for Online Gaming Swap Shops Read more
- br/>
Extras
-
